Super Bowl Update

Troy beat Southern Utah 80-72 on Tuesday. Box score HERE.

I covered the game, and game story is HERE

The big news was senior forward Steven Cunningham coming back from a facial injury. He plays with a clear mask, but it's evident he was missed and his return didn't hurt team chemistry one bit. This is a unit where everyone on the team believes in each other and wants to win.

Troy is 5-5, and plays Texas-San Antonio on Thursday at home. Head coach Don Maestri said UTSA was the third-best team in the non-conference schedule behind Mississippi State and Belmont.

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Recruiting update: Today (Wednesday) begins the midyear signing period. Troy can add players until the last day to enroll in the spring semester. The list should be a lengthy one.

I believe these guys are set to sign, but will have to double check and see if they actually do:

**LB Wayland Coleman-Dancer from Mississippi Delta Community College committed on Tuesday and said he is signing today.
**DE Brandon Timmons from Northwest Mississippi Community College told me when he committed that he would be a January enrollee.
**DB Shaquille Beverly from First Coast High School in Jacksonville will enroll early. Not sure if that means he signs a LOI during this period or not.
**OL Chris Hawkins from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, I think, is supposed to sign early. I will come back and correct this if I am wrong. He will have three years of eligibility left.
**QB Deon Anthony, from Hinds CC in Mississippi, if he follows through on his original commitment, is supposed to sign early. He got some interest from Pitt, but then Pitt's head coach bailed for Arizona State. I tried to reach Anthony on Tuesday night, to no avail.
(Wed. morning edit) **P Will Scott from Gulf Coast Community College is expected to sign and come in and challenge for the starting punting job.

There may be some more JUCO guys that end up signing, but we will see.

Three players grayshirted from the 2011 signing class and were expected to enroll in January. We'll find out if they actually do, but they are...
***OL Bartavis Whigham (Northview High School in Dothan)
***DB Chris Davis (Thomasville, Ala.)
***K/P Ryan Kay (Hampton, Ga.)

And then you get the two receivers who missed the year because of grades.
***Jamel Johnson - played at Holmes CC as a sophomore, even tweeted that Auburn called him but he was firm to Troy. Will be back for spring and will be a junior in the fall.
***Chip Reeves - Was ineligible this year and will be a fifth-year senior in the fall if he holds up his end of the bargain. Unsure if he'll participate in spring ball but he knows the offense and speed doesn't usually slump if you keep working at it. And he's got speed.